Thoughts midway through the road trip
Published 4:12 pm Monday, November 5, 2007
Well, its an off day and the Tips are almost halfway through their road trip (2-1 so far), so I guess it’s a good time to give a quick update. And thanks to the magic of internet broadcasts, I’ve actually been able to see the games myself instead of relying on the commentary from someone else’s perspective. So a few observations:
– Everett really did not come out well on this trip. They never appeared to be into the game at all in the opener against Edmonton, and they weren’t much better the next night against Red Deer. Fortunately for the Tips the Rebels have struggled mightily this season and Everett was able to fight back on talent alone.
– Good win against Calgary. Yes, the Hitmen are going through a bit of a rough stretch. However, they’re still a team that was ranked No. 1 in the CHL, and I still think they’ll represent the East in the WHL finals (provided they get healthy). It’ll be interesting to see whether they think they’ve got the right guy in goal, or whether they decide they need an upgrade, because with so many 88s this is the year the Hitmen need to make a run.
– Still not enough secondary scoring beyond the No. 1 line of Zach Hamill, Dan Gendur and Kyle Beach. Yes, Vitali Karamnov scored twice against Calgary, but that’s a little deceiving. One of those goals came while playing with Hamill and Beach while Gendur served a 10-minute misconduct penalty.
– Interesting to hear the opposing commentators’ takes on Beach. I was wondering whether the vitirol aimed Beach’s way would be toned down because these are teams that only face him once. Apparently not. I guess it’s safe to say Beach’s reputation has fully diffused throughout the league.
